Category Archives: Italian life

A trip to the wine country for lunch

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Today was a gorgeous autumn day. Crisp and brilliant sun with blue skies. We had planned another meet-up of the Gang o Six. A longstanding group which enjoys lunch together every so often. We wanted to see each other and have fun and this seemed like the time to do that.

We went to Osteria di Sagrantino at Doug’s suggestions since our first choice was closed for vacation. It turns out it was a great choice. It is just my favorite type of restaurant. Not pretentious at all and straight up, seasonal, good Umbrian food. Nice people. Great local wines. It is set among the famous Sagrantino vineyards which are all flaunting their autumnal colors. They are nearly past their peak but still very pretty.

Here is Osteria di Sagrantino. Nice outside space for summer. Inside cozy and an enoteca with a cheese and sausage display for sale.

My first course was Lonzino with Torta al Testo. I had not heard of Lonzino before. Lonzino is an air cured pork which is very thinly sliced. Not smoked like so much is here. It was served with the traditional flatbread of Umbria, torta al testo. I really enjoyed it.

Doug got the Vellutata di Verdura. It was a pretty puree soup of roasted seasonal vegetables.

For the next course most of us got the Tagliatelle con Funghi Porcini. Also called Cèpes in France, and Steinpilzen in Germany. A seasonal delicacy, the mushrooms are not cultivated but are foraged in the wild. Very meaty and delicious.

I forgot to take a picture of our desserts. They had three and we got one of each to share. A cheesecake with pears poached in sagrantino wine. Tiramisù. And a torta al cioccolato with Amaretto cream. All good.

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Today I had coffee with Joanne who brought our six liters of oil from the olives we helped harvest. Thanks Joanne and Mark!

And kindly Doug was nice to share a liter of his just harvested oil. Thanks Doug! We had some bruschetta with the two new oils. Both were delicious and both were quite different.

The distinctive green of the new oil on the bread. Yes, I took bites before I took the photo!

A la prossima…

Olive recap

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I just spoke with Joanne and she said they got 792 kilos of olives (1,746 pounds) in the two days of harvest. The yield was a bit more than 10%. So they got 88 liters of oil. I think they are pleased. They will share some with their helpers. I’m excited to try the new oil when it is truly brand new!

Tonight I had a hankering for something a little Texmex. I was in the store today and they had corn on the cob. This always confuses me here. In the U.S. the corn is a summertime vegetable. You sure won’t see it fresh in November! I have seen it a few times here, but only in the fall. I really don’t get how this could be.

Anywho, I made a marinated chicken with corn, sweet and spicy peppers, onions and black beans. It should hit the Mexican flavor buttons with cumin, chili powder, lime zest and juice for zing. Twas good.

Pictures up next of the new oil! As soon as I get it.

The Raccolto – harvest

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OK guys, I’m officially old. Luther and I went and helped our friends with the harvest. I am proud to say we did five trees ourselves. But it did take it out of us. Still we really enjoy participating. I think of the millennia of people who went before us doing the exact same thing. Tradition.

To top it off it was one of the most spectacular days EVER. And I thank my friends Joanne and Mark for letting us enjoy the sun and perfect temperature at their beautiful home. They live in the mountains.

To understand our area is to understand that we are in the Tiber valley. The chains of mountains run up on either side. So for us to go just about anywhere we have to cross over mountains. Our friends live in the mountains but also across quite a long small road with a ton of switchbacks and hairpin turns. In the morning, in our valley in the fall and winter, it is always socked in with fog. A bit dreary. It burns off at different times but usually by eleven. So this morning we left in the fog. At 9am. As we drove up into the heights, we crossed through the clouds and then…the fog disappeared. 💚

It really is a beautiful drive. We could look down on the valleys and the clouds filling them. The road eventually runs along the spine of the mountains and you get views for kilometers in both directions.

So, back to the harvest. When we got there it was quite chilly but sunny, because they are up fairly high. They live in a former monastery from around 1300. It was a ruin when they bought it and brought it back to life over time. Here is a picture of the view. You can see the white cloud in the lower areas in the distance.

This is the olive grove. I think they have maybe a hundred trees. Perhaps a little less. There were eight of us doing the picking. Plus a two man crew who do this for a fee. They bring the equipment used to shake the olives from the tops of the trees. We rake the olives from the lower branches. We picked from 9:30 to 1:15 and then we had a fortifying lunch of hamburgers and grilled wursts, along with hummus, salad, and fruit salad for dessert. Thanks Joanne and Mark!

The helpers, who know olives, said they would probably get about 650 kilos of olives. I know from a few years of harvesting that the trees were heavily laden. It remains to be seen how much oil will come from this haul.

This was a good distraction for us today. I don’t talk politics here, but I’m sure you know how I roll. And needless to say, I’m disappointed today. But, it is what it is.

Election day

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I don’t know about you, but I’ll be glad with this thing is over. I am sure it is a LOT worse for those of you who are living in the U.S. what with all the robocalls and political ads. I am sure it is relentless. At least that part will be over after today! Here I watch the news, in the evening only, on Sky which has most of the U.S. non-network channels. It is scary. And stressful!

I am happy I will be distracted Wednesday because we are going to help friends with the raccolto — olive harvest. It is a huge deal in Umbria. Just about everyone has an olive grove of their own if they have any land. And they are happy to let their friends help them. The region is known for having some of the highest rated oil anywhere. It is bright green and grassy with a distinct peppery taste in the throat. The new oil is just incredible. Unlike anything I had ever had before moving here. Here is a picture from the mill where I watched the pressing process in 2018.

So today we harvested our tree! We too have an olive tree on the terrace! I think you all know this. And is loaded with olives this year. I don’t want them to go to waste so we harvested them today and will donate them to our friends tomorrow and their harvest. It will kind of be cool to know that a wee bit of our own olives are in the oil we will get. 🙂

Last night we had a delicious cannellini bean soup with cavolo nero (black kale). It was delicious.

Hang in there everyone. Try to distract yourselves. Meditate. Do yoga. Take a Xanax 😉

🩵💙🩵

Giorno di tutti i santi – All Saints’ Day

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Today is a holiday, and so is tomorrow. Everyone goes to the cemetery to visit with lost loved ones and bring them flowers. It’s pretty quiet in the hood. Monte Acuto greeted me this morning. Looking good!

Last night was Halloween. It is becoming more popular here and the kids go around to all the shopkeepers to collect candy. They don’t normally come to homes. But that didn’t matter to me because I have always been all about Halloween. I walked down to a nearby store and bought some candy. The afternoon was beautiful. I love the autumn sunlight slanting in and making great shadows.

The citrus are arriving from the south.

I carved a small pumpkin and carried him down to the lobby of our building. I set him on a stool with a basket of candy.

My thinking was the kids could see him through the window and then ring a bell, (maybe ours?) to come in. But we got no bell rings. 😞 So, a couple hours later I went down to retrieve him and the stool and basket. Big surprise. Almost all the candy was gone! Maybe the two girls in our building, maybe, another neighbor let kids in. Doesn’t matter. I’m glad.

It is getting to be chili weather. Pun intended. So I’m deciding which kind to make first. Hopefully next week we will be helping our friends with the raccolta – harvesting of the olives. A centuries old occupation around here. I love being a small link in the chain. 🫒 🫒 🫒

Happy November to all. 🍁 🍂 🦃

Message to help new Visa holders

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Hi everyone. I think this message will be helpful for those wanting to move here. I know most of my readers won’t care, or won’t need to know, but you might still be interested in the process.

I am primarily writing this to help the new bunch of people trying to come to live here who are seeking/or already have the Digital Nomad Visa. I hope they think of it as information sharing, not negativity. Seems they are not getting the information about the things they need to do to stay in Italy legally. This information is the same for all Visas. And if a person wants a path to staying long term, this information is vital (see last paragraph).

I know Nomads are by definition moving around, but in Italy the nature of the Visa means you’ll need at least a years lease before you come. You need to stay put at your leased address until you’ve gotten through all the paperwork. It is a fact of life here. Some people are fine with that and want to stay long term. If so they need to plan ahead.

There are a number of things to do once you arrive in Italy to live after you receive your Visa.

Step 1. First and foremost is apply for the Permesso di Soggiorno (PdS) which is your permit to stay. The Visa is your ticket in, the PdS is your permit to stay. You must apply for this within 8 days of arrival. Your Visa never needs renewing, but the PdS is an annual or bi-annual renewal. Depends on your region .

To get this permit, you go to the Poste Italiene and pick up the yellow packet for stranieri (foreigners). Fill it in (Google that) buy a €16 tax stamp (bollo) at your local tabaccheria and go back to the Poste with copies of all the documentation you used to get the Visa. You will pay a fee to have this packet processed and a postal fee. Google that for amount. You will receive a receipt for this — DO NOT LOSE IT. You may get an appointment at the Questura then, but probably not. You’ll review it by SMS (you’ll need an Italian number) or mail. This appointment can be a year away.

You must go to the appointment. Bring copies of your documents and the receipt. Also photos. And be prepared to be fingerprinted. Then you wait for notification the card is ready. This can be a few months.

As you can see, things move slowly here.

Step 2. Once you’ve got the PdS then you can become a resident. You’ll do this in the Anagrafe in your Comune. You will get a visit by the police to ascertain you live there.

I am telling you all this so you’ll be informed how to get the Permanent Residency (Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo) after five years here if you want. This is if you plan to live here long term. You will have needed to prepare for this over the previous five years. You will apply just like you do to renew your PdS but you’ll need to check a box for this Permesso. Most important you’ll need to prove you have been paying your income taxes to Italy. You will also need to pass the A2 certification of Italian proficiency. During these five years you cannot have traveled outside of Italy for more that ten months total. There are several other qualifications but they are obtainable when you’re ready to apply. The aforementioned must be done over time.

I hope any new Visa holders, or those pursuing a Visa, find this useful information!

In Boca al Lupo!

It is Autumn!

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Today, I had an Italian moment. It seems every neighbor was washing sheets. I have three clotheslines on a balcony which is five stories above the ground. It is in full sun and does the drying job nicely. I went out to take in my sheets and saw our across-the-hall neighbor, Helene, was hanging her sheets out too. Then I looked left and the two women on the two balconies next to us were ALSO hanging sheets. It was kind of fun as we all said ciao to one another. I hadn’t seen the two left hand neighbors. I did know the ones right next to us are the parents of Helene. And grandparents of her two girls. One of my lines broke today. So I guess they all need replacing. 240cm x 3. I need to get new line and also clamps to hold them tight.

As the title of the post says, it is autumn! The autumnal light never disappoints. I love how the shadows slant. Everything becomes clearer. I also could tell it is autumn by the produce in the market now. Since I was away on the Ireland trip the produce has changed. I like I can tell what part of the year I am in by what is on offer.

Saturday I went to our little local market. I bought peppers, potatoes, zucchini, an acorn squash, beatole, onions, leeks, and some of the last of the tomatoes. Here are a few pictures of the produce and the piazza. It was buzzing with activity.


I made my first soup of the season. A minestrone. Chock full of vegetables. I was ready for a bowl of soup.

Happy fall y’all.

What we can’t find…we make!

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Maybe you all don’t use or like sweet pickle relish but our household always has it, and so did my Mother’s. We use it in tuna salad, chicken salad and potato salad. Thing is, you won’t find anything remotely like it here. Also you’ll never find nice dill pickles. Alas. So we make our own. I say we, because Luther uses it a lot in tuna salad so I told him there is a TON of chopping so you can help. And he does. He has gotten very good at the peppers.

Luther’s peppers
Cucumbers, cetrioli in Italian.
Soaking in brine.
Finito!

This is only one of the things we want that are not available here. I make my own ranch dressing too, because dressing isn’t a “thing” here. There are not shelves full of different salad dressings. In Italy it is oil and vinegar and that’s it.

I also make Bisquick from scratch. That’s probably weird but it is useful in some things I make. I make my own fish fry to coat fish. Buttermilk is not available here, but it’s really easy to make. I am sure there are more!
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We are still living our heat spell — it has to have been three weeks solid (maybe four) with the exception of that one day of rain. It is said to be because of an African heat dome that is stuck. Here’s the forecast for the next 7 days…and it goes on after that. 🥵. 38C is 100.4F.

I got out early this morning to show some people an apartment that my friend, who lives in Wales now, is renting. Piazza Matteotti was deserted. But cool at 8:30. I said hi to Irene at Bar Mary, and my friend Angelo at his Alimentari. Nice to see old friends. Miss them!

Finally a little about the garden. Being on the roof and in full sun the tomatoes are suffering. I got past the blossom end rot problem with extra calcium. I water twice a day. Still they look like they are miserable. I need a sun shade or something. My first year is an experiment for sure. There are quite a few tomatoes but they are small. They taste really sweet though.

I will leave you with a picture of my kumquat tree which is doing really well. She seems to really like the sun. She’s covered with sweet smelling blossoms…and the blossoms are covered with…honey bees! (You can see one bottom center).

Back to Italian life!

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A couple other interesting observations that I forgot to mention in the trip report. One is the cash economy in Germany. We never encountered as many restaurants that would only take cash. Even in Italy, supposedly more backward than Germany I don’t know of any restaurant that won’t take a credit card. Second one was also about how you can pay. This time, in the Cologne Cathedral, we noticed that if you wanted to light a candle for a loved one or send up a prayer, they DO take a credit card! 🙂 How progressive of the Catholic Church! But in Boppard, to park in any of the pay lots you must have change. No bills accepted, and no cards. How odd.
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It is still quite hot here. Running from 35 to 37 each day for at least the next two weeks. That’s 95-99 for those who are metric challenged. We do have to run errands but wow! So hot. It really takes it out of you. Yesterday we went to the local market in the piazza. Then to buy a crate of fizzy water, and finally to the grocery store to stock up. We were both whipped when we got home.

I have a sad tomato story. Last post I did on them they were looking good. But now I must report the tomatoes are ripening with blossom end rot. I found if I picked the tomato when it was just beginning to ripen I could still use them. But many I couldn’t do that with. I read it was a lack of calcium in the soil so I have been feeding them with calcium plant food. Also some people say too much water can inhibit the absorption of the calcium, but it is just so freaking hot on that terrace in the full sun, if they aren’t watered they shrivel up and look pathetic. I am cutting back a little on the water. Anyway here is a bowl of the ones I did get that are fine.

We have a new wine bar in the Centro! Labrusca Wine Bar. Right next to La Rocca, our fortress. Run by a couple of young ragazzi. They feature lots of local Umbria wines, many we had not heard of. Also artisan local beer, and very delicious snacks. They have a small plate menu as well. There is a beer fest in town now too, called UmBEERtide! So they weren’t serving the menu. We met up with Jane and Christie at the new bar last evening. Always nice to have a new place in town.

Photo credit Michaël Cloet

Today is Sunday. We had a lunch planned with our Canadian friend Karen, at Calagrana. She is a teacher and every summer she comes and stays (mostly) in Tuscany. So we get together. She loves Calagrana. Our main courses. I forgot to photo the starter of grilled peaches, cherry tomatoes, with ham and buratta. So good.

Tagliatelle with truffles
Fegato (liver) with potato puree. I love liver and this was superb.
Baby chicken.

…and for our salad tonight, borlotti beans from the local market which just came in season. In English they are cranberry beans. Too bad they turn brown when cooked! But they taste great!

Ciao for now! Stay cool all y’all! (That’s the Virginia in me coming out! 🤣)

Greve in Chianti

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We went for an overnight to a bed and breakfast outside the village of Greve in Chianti. I had ordered a long time ago, some hand painted ceramics. The artist is pretty popular and put me on the list. It was finished, and ready to pickup in November. I wanted to stay in the BnB which was owned by her friend, and where her studio was.

Turned out, I couldn’t go in December because of travel plans and Christmas. And then in January she went back home to Spain and the BnB was closed for the winter. Then we had the big March trip to the U.S., and on and on. When I finally decided to try to reserve a room he was nearly booked! So I took the one day he had open.

Finally on Thursday we headed out for our nice overnight. It was pretty weather. Perfect top-down weather. We decided to do a wine tasting/lunch combination. We went to Savignola Paolina in Greve. It was a pretty place. Not too big. We had reserved online but they didn’t seem to have our reservation. The staff was super friendly. They set a table for us outside with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. They were all very friendly and seemed genuinely to enjoy chatting, asking where we were from and telling us all about the winery and the wines.

We enjoyed a plate of three types of bruschetta, a plate of charcuteries, and a risotto made from their red wine. We tasted a rosè, and three Chianti Classicos of ascending quality. There is no white wine made in the Chianti district. At the end we had a taste of the one Merlot, which is not a DOC wine. And then the one called Mio which was made by the Swiss owner. Both of these had productions of 1200 liters only. I loved the top Chianti we tasted as well as the one just down from it. The rose was also quite nice and much more complex than any other rosè I have had. We bought a a case of wine.

We then went into the town of Greve. Chock full of tourists. We had a dinner reservation there that night. On we went to find our BnB called Selvabella in Chianti. It was down a tiny little gravel road about 2 kilometers. Thank god we didn’t meet any other cars. We parked and were greeted by Marta, the Ceramicist, and three resident dogs. She was super nice. We toured her studio and I got to see my ceramics.

The top two are the two fish platters. Then my favorite, the bird plate with a European Robin, a European blackbird, and a Hoopoe. The last being a favorite bird. Then two nice sized bowls with a snail and a hoopoe. They are a size I was lacking. Big enough for a big serving of whatever side or salad I made.

We were kind of out in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t want to negotiate the narrow road out and drive after eating and drinking. We asked if they could prepare dinner for us and they said they could. We had a nice dish of pasta and a pretty dessert. Both delicious. There was another American couple there from South Carolina and they also enjoyed the same dinner as we did. Bernardo, the proprietor was a good chef. He loved to experiment so had a lot of ingredients that were unusual. For the pasta we had a goat and pork ragu. On top was a pulverized bay leaf powder. The dessert (pictured) a panna cotta, was topped with a pulverized fig leaf. We talked a long time about cooking.

Next morning we packed up and headed home. Took a southerly route which was much better. We can do the trip in just over two hours. I love the Tuscan wine areas. They are also popular with tourists and the whole area is pretty much booked for the season.

Buona domenica a tutti!